History of Saskatoon · Canada’s heritage registers
Saskatoon: 21 historic places, 4 with the highest designation
Counted by designation, there are 16 provincial or municipal listings and a heritage railway station. Marr Residence, begun in 1884, is the oldest by its record. Behind these stands one more local or provincial listing that only Wikidata records.
provincial and municipal listings with an encyclopedia article
Oldest building
1884
the first construction date on its record
Homes built before 1961
16%
typical town: 18%
In pictures
19 photos of Saskatoon’s landmarks, and 9 from before 1950
Of the places on Saskatoon’s registers, 19 have a photo here. Look out for College Building and Forestry Farm Park and Zoo. The pictures are the work of 10 photographers.
Photos from Wikimedia Commons, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the place’s page. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Through time
Pictures of Saskatoon from 1907 to 1940
By date: 8 old photographs of the town, with the oldest view of one of its historic places. Tap any picture to see it full screen.
1890190019101920193019401950Confederation to 1900Boom yearsThe wars and betweenAfter the war
Public domain or CC0, made before 1950, from Wikimedia Commons; old views of places can be drawings, prints or maps of their time. Each credit opens the image’s page.
How it began
From 1882: Saskatoon’s first milestones
On paper, Saskatoon became a city in 1906. Its oldest recorded station, Saskatoon CPR Station, dates from 1908. For the municipality of Saskatoon itself, Wikidata records 1882, a date that can be a founding as much as a merger.
Saskatoon takes its name from Amelanchier alnifolia, species of plant.
Every place on the registers inside the town, by its designation.
Highest designationsOther federal designationsProvincial and local listings
Names show on hover, and a tap takes you to the place’s page.
The 21, by tier
4 Highest designations1 Other federal designations16 Provincial and local listings
What the map shows is the open record: the federal directory in full, and from provincial or municipal lists only the places Wikidata ties to an encyclopedia article.
Points from Wikidata (Parks Canada’s files carry none) and from Québec’s register, as mapped there.
Highest designations
4 places in Saskatoon with the highest designation
Their dates run from 1907, with Saskatoon Railway Station (Canadian Pacific), to 1922. National Historic Sites and Classified Federal Heritage Buildings, Canada’s highest federal recognition. They were designated between 1976 and 2001. Each one opens its own page.
By kind, the list runs to 8 groups. Nationally theatres, museums and memorials make up 6% of the list, so 14% here stands out. Two of the highest-ranked are Saskatoon Railway Station (Canadian Pacific) and College Building.
Houses5
Theatres, museums and memorials3
Churches and religious buildings3
Public buildings2
Stations, lighthouses and bridges2
Mills, shops and works1
Forts and military buildings1
Other places4
Kinds read from each place’s name and the functions its register gives; a building keeps the kind it was built as.
Provincial and local listings
16 more places Saskatoon or its province protects
Provincial and municipal listings that Wikidata records and an encyclopedia describes. Their dates run from 1884, with Marr Residence, to 1946. Each one opens its own page.
For Saskatoon, most dated places belong to the decades after Confederation
Each place by the first construction date on its record.
British North America 1760–18660
After Confederation 1867–191313
Wars and Depression 1914–19454
Since 1946 1946 on2
Homes by age
A growing town: 8.4% of Saskatoon’s homes went up from 2016 to 2021, against 4.1%
Before 1961: 16% of Saskatoon’s homes, near the usual 18%. The busiest building years in Saskatoon were from 1961 to 1980, which account for 30% of today’s homes. Homes built from 2001 to 2015 make up 22% of Saskatoon’s, against 15% in the typical town.
16%
Before 1961
30%
1961–80
23%
1981–2000
22%
2001–15
8.4%
2016–21
SaskatoonTypical town
2021 Census, private dwellings by period of construction (Statistics Canada); the typical town is the middle Canadian town of 2,500 or more.
Born here
16 Saskatoon births on record from before 1914
Best known is Henry Dyck, with articles in 5 Wikipedia languages. Bert Gardiner closes the list, born in 1913. It starts with Joe Rooney, born in 1898. Of them all, Richard Jamieson lived longest: 91 years, until 2003.
Joe Rooney
Kay the Aquanaut
Muneshine
Piya Chattopadhyay
Les Hammond
Cliff Lake
Joseph Jeffrey Charlebois
Bert Scharfe
Elizabeth Caskey
George Campbell Tinning
James Le Jeune
Lloyd Klein
Henry Dyck
Richard Jamieson
Ab Welsh
Bert Gardiner
18501875190019251950
HD
Henry Dyck1912–1993 · Canadian ice hockey player
BG
Bert Gardiner1913–2001 · Canadian ice hockey player
JR
Joe Rooney1898–1979 · Canadian player of American football
GT
George Campbell Tinning1910–1996 · Canadian artist
LK
Lloyd Klein1910–1966 · Ice hockey player
PC
Piya Chattopadhyay1901– · Canadian broadcaster
LH
Les Hammond1908–1998 · Canadian politician
CL
Cliff Lake1909–1990 · Canadian ice hockey player
Everyone born in Saskatoon → Born before 1914 (the page’s periods: Confederation to the First World War). Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s Wikipedia article.
The registers count 21 historic places in Saskatoon, 4 with the highest designation, Saskatoon Railway Station (Canadian Pacific) first. Dates cluster in the decades after Confederation: 13 of 19. Of its people of the past, the best known are Henry Dyck (1912), Bert Gardiner (1913) and Joe Rooney (1898). Counted by age, only 16% of its homes come from before 1961, against 18% in the typical town. For the rest, its places were designated between 1976 and 2001.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
•
The tiers. Three tiers: the top for National Historic Sites, classified federal buildings and Québec’s classements, a second for the other federal designations, a third for provincial and municipal listings.
•
People and events. Persons of national historic significance come with no location; a town gets one only by birthplace (name and both life years agreeing) or by one of its own places that bears the name and whose record tells the story. Events, which can’t be tied, are left out.
•
The grade. History is described, not graded, for every Canadian town.
•
Map points. Federal places get their map points from Wikidata, since Parks Canada’s files carry none; they are as mapped there.
•
Protection. Federal recognition isn’t a planning control: buildings the federal government owns follow its heritage policy, while others are protected only by a provincial or municipal designation.
•
Provincial and municipal lists. Provincial and municipal listings here come from Wikidata alone, since the provinces’ own registers can’t be reused; a listing needs an encyclopedia article to get a page.
•
The federal register. Federal places come from Parks Canada’s directory, which counts National Historic Sites, federal heritage buildings, stations and lighthouses; their statements are the register’s own.
Questions about Saskatoon’s history
Which places in Saskatoon have the highest designation?
These: Saskatoon Railway Station (Canadian Pacific), College Building, Next of Kin Memorial Avenue and Forestry Farm Park and Zoo.
What is the oldest building in Saskatoon?
Marr Residence — its record dates it to 1884 (Municipal heritage property).
Why might a heritage building in Saskatoon be missing here?
Provincial and municipal registers outside Québec aren’t open data. Wikidata knows one more listing in Saskatoon, but without an open description or an encyclopedia article it gets no page.
How old are the homes in Saskatoon?
The 2021 Census dates 16% of its homes before 1961 (18% in the typical town).
Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada (Parks Canada).
Sources: Parks Canada, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations · Canadian Register of Historic Places (federal extract) · Wikidata (CC0) for map points, other names and articles · Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (homes by period of construction). Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
1907
1908
c. 1910
c. 1910
1910s
1911
1916
c. 1930
1940
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